Diseases of the Digestive Organs. 139 



cannot be safely passed without casting, and it should 

 never be passed on until by examination in the furrow on 

 the side of the neck, the operator has ascertained that it 

 has entered the gullet and is clear of, and above the 

 windpipe. For the smaU animals the probang must be 

 made correspondingly small. 



The use of whips and such like objects is very repre- 

 hensible as being liable to tear the gullet. An eifective 

 probang may be constructed out of a piece of stiff new 

 rope, a few of the bundles of the end of which have been 

 opened out and tied back so as to form a cup-shaped 

 extremity. After being used this may be hung up straight 

 on several nails driven into the wall and will be ready 

 for the next occasion. 



In choking with finely divided food the probang only 

 packs it firmer, and gagging and time will rarely dislodge 

 it. Pour water or well-boiled gruel down, and seek by 

 manipulation to break up the mass and allow it to pass on 

 little by httle. Instruments have also been devised for 

 extracting the obstructing mass. Faihng otherwise, the 

 gullet must be laid open, the offending matter extracted, 

 the wounds sewed up, and the animal fed for a time on 

 liquids only. 



Horses are sometimes choked by eggs given by fooHsh 

 grooms. These may be punctured with a needle and then 

 crushed between two solid bodies on different sides of the 

 neck. 



Prevention. Besides the more obvious resort of with- 

 holding dangerous articles, the mere tying down of the 

 head wiU prevent choking in cattle feeding on turnips, 

 apples, etc. A loop of rope fixed to the gi'ound is to 

 be hung over the horn when such food is siipphed. Solid 

 food should be to a large extent withheld for a week after 

 the relief of choking, until the shght irritation or inflam- 

 mation has subsided. 



